The grand opening of the Visitation Clinic established in southwestern Haiti in a village called Petite Riviere de Nippes. Villagers line the front porch of the clinic, which will serve the area’s 250,000 residents. Robert Lorsbach, M.D., and Mary E. Kass, M.D., president of the CAP Foundation, pose with the award at the CAP annual convention in San Diego.

Nov. 7, 2008 | A remote Haitian medical clinic will reap the benefits of a $30,000 grant awarded to a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) pathologist.

Robert Lorsbach, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor and director of hematopathology at UAMS, was one of just five pathologists chosen nationwide to receive the 2008 College of American Pathologists (CAP) Foundation Humanitarian Grant Award. He was recognized at a Sept. 27 ceremony at the foundation’s annual convention in San Diego.

“Having spent my entire pathology career in academic centers with advanced clinical laboratories, I’ve long been troubled by the stark disparities in lab testing available in the Western world and those in developing countries,” Lorsbach said. “This award will help us improve laboratory testing as we work toward providing high-quality, basic health care to the impoverished people of southwestern Haiti. After being ravaged by four hurricanes this year alone, the needs in Haiti are greater than ever.”

The CAP Foundation’s Humanitarian Grant Program provides grants to its members that are used to fund pathology and medical services to underprivileged patients in an underdeveloped area of the world.

Lorsbach first became interested in Haiti because of he wanted to help address the health care inequities between the Western world and developing countries. That interest grew after he was introduced to the region nearly five years ago by Theresa Patterson, a 30-year veteran of helping in Haiti and the founder of the Visitation Hospital Foundation (VHF). VHF is a Christian nonprofit based in Nashville, Tenn.

“After several years of intense fundraising, the VHF in the last year was able to open the first phase of a 4,000-square-foot outpatient clinic with 25 staff members, where more than 100 patients are seen daily,” Lorsbach said. “The next step toward having a full-service hospital is to open surgical and obstetrical units, a goal toward which VHF is currently working..”

The clinic was established in southwestern Haiti in a village called Petite Riviere de Nippes. More than 250,000 people live in the area, most of whom subsist on just $1 a day and have limited or no access to medical care. Lorsbach, who has traveled several times to Haiti, said the closest hospital is more than 70 miles away, which makes health care access nearly impossible considering the poor roads and lack of transportation.

It’s at this clinic where Lorsbach will use his grant to install a hematology analyzer and provide laboratory test reagents and educational materials.
 
“The addition of these supplies and equipment and improved testing capability will help the physicians and nurses provide improved care for patients with HIV/AIDS,” Lorsbach said. “Haiti has the highest incidence of HIV infection in the western hemisphere, and we will be able to have an immediate impact on those patients treated at the clinic.”

Lorsbach said the clinic in Haiti has reliable Internet access, which will enable the VHF and UAMS to address issues that might arise related to the new laboratory equipment or testing.